My Rain Quilt gave me a hard time. It looked a lot different when I went into my studio this morning. There were flowered pieces of fabric on either side of the dark blue. I really like the way they looked. They worked in the way that when I looked at them I knew they were right.
But the quilt needed more and I couldn’t figure out to do after that.
So I tore off the two strips of flowered fabric and added the red.
I looked at it wondering what I had done. I can’t remember the last time I used so much blue in a quilt. And I was intentionally trying not to use red because I didn’t want to go in the direction of red, white and blue.
But there it was. Yeah, maybe it’s mixed up with a bunch of other colors, but it said “flag” to me now no matter how I looked at it.
I gave into it. Acknowledging that the election is there in my mind and my heart and now in my quilt.
Not sure what to do next, I wanted to keep it moving. That play of darks and lights and brights moving in and out.
When I laid down the black and brown fabric next to the red, it all came together. It picked up on the blue and orange border around the triangle quilt pieces. And when I didn’t have enough of it to go around the whole quilt I found pieces of fabric with similar colors.
And then I found the elephant.
A little hard to see in the top photo, it’s in the bottom left corner, made up of all the colors in the quilt.
There is fabric in this quilt from the United States, the Philippines and Africa (that I know of) . I didn’t set out to make a quilt about anything in particular. But now that it’s done I see the coming together of the tradition of diversity. Which to me, is what our country has always been about.
I still have to back and tack Rain Quilt, but I think it may be sold. If not, I’ll be sure to let you all know when it’s done.
Hi Maria,
Today Jon is talking in his blog about how you send thought pictures to the donkeys and they do the same back to you – can you tell us what any of the “pictures” they send you is? Fascinating stuff! Thanks and Happy Noah’s Ark Day from another drenched NYer! 🙂
Katy
Katy, Sometimes it’s words and sometimes it’s pictures. One cold day in winter I was standing with our donkey Fanny and wondering if she was cold. I got a picture of her skeleton, her bones being warmed by the sun. She was standing on the side of the barn in the sun. And I knew that she didn’t perceive the cold the same way I do. That inside she was warm.
When something like a new animal, like when Chloe came, I sat with Fanny and Lulu and in my mind pictured Chloe in the barn yard. I don’t know if it made a difference, but I feel like they get it.
Maria,
Please oh please can i buy this quilt?? I have had it in my mind to get one for so long. I just love this one so much.
oh rats, i see its already sold.sniff.
Sorry Rose, buy a lovely compliment. thank you!